


Chase me

by weaksoul (window_to_the_soul), window_to_the_soul



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Christmas present, Dark-ish, F/M, It's entirely Kris' fault, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Romance, because it always is, suppressants
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-08
Updated: 2018-01-16
Packaged: 2019-03-01 08:40:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13291221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/window_to_the_soul/pseuds/weaksoul, https://archiveofourown.org/users/window_to_the_soul/pseuds/window_to_the_soul
Summary: It is her life, and she will live it like she wants to, Soline be damned. No matter whatsociety says. No matter her biology.





	1. Prologue: An uneventful evening

**Author's Note:**

  * For [KristinStone](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KristinStone/gifts).



> Merry Christmas, hun. It's late, but we did agree to exchange presents when we meet again, so there.
> 
> This is a little thing in the past of Flint and Naughton. I had good fun, and middle ages suits me better than the present time anyway. It was originally supposed to be about the first hunt, but that grew too dark for me. Now it's just fluff (well, far as I am able to write it anyway) and good, old-fashioned romance.

There was a huge smile splitting Vihela’s face. 

“Mother!” The laughter and sounds of child-play embraced her as she entered the small town orphanage. The interior was dimly lit, small candles standing high enough that the little ones couldn’t reach them casting warm shadows. “Mother!” She was too excited to greet the young omegas barrelling into her, too excited even to pick up little Mari and twirl her around like she normally would. “MOTHER!” She threw her leather coat onto the rack and all but ran through the hallway. The old woman in the kitchen looked up at her daughter. 

“Vee, what’s got you so excited?” she asked. Unlike her child, who wore her blond hair cut short like the soldiers did, her own hung in a long braid down her back. “Come, help with the soup.” Taking off her gloves and the sword at her belt, Vee took hold of the wooden spoon she was handed. 

“What kind of soup are we having?” Her mother smiled warmly, the wrinkles around her eyes deepening  
.  
“Your favourite – potato soup. Now, why are you smiling like Soline granted you your deepest wish?” Vee bounced on her heels while stirring the thick broth. 

“I got chosen for the parade!” 

 

The parade was the talk of the town and had been for a few days. There would be food on the streets, colourful flags were being put up, and Soline’s Priestesses would sing their liveliest tunes. People were expected from as far away as Flynnt, and some had even hinted that some noblemen from Germany would come. 

“But you’ll be on time for the Show, won’t you? The girls want you to.” Vee grinned, waving her mother’s concerns away. 

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” she said. “Mari talks about the handsome alphas that will be there all the damned time. No way I’m not gonna make sure she goes to a rich man.” Her mother nodded.  
“I’ve prepared all their dresses, and the baths will be done up with scented oils to enhance their smells, too,” the older woman said. “Chop some of these?” Vee took over sausage chopping while her mother seasoned their dinner. 

“We have six girls on the brink of their first heats. The Show will be a great success,” the younger woman assured her mother. “I’ll pick up the dresses tomorrow after training.” They passed a while in companionable silence, both working on the soup. Vee was too happy to worry about the fact that six of her friends would be sold off and married by tomorrow evening. Besides, that was just how it worked. The Shows ensured that omegas stayed safe with men who could actually provide for them. Her mother always checked the alphas’ funds before they were even allowed inside their small house. 

 

“And Sir Darren really lets you ride with the paladins tomorrow?” Vee nodded happily. 

“He said I was finally ready. He’s proud of me, even.” Her mother sent her a knowing smile.

“You must be feeling over the moon.” Then, she frowned, turning finally to give her daughter a hug. “I’m proud of you, too, darling. But you should get out of that horrible thing. You smell like sweat and horse manure.” Vee looked down at her leather armour. 

“Yeah...” She had to agree that she didn’t smell particularly good. A day of rolling in the dirt, hopping on and off horses and clubbing men with dull swords did that. As the first female ever to make it to the goddess’ paladins she had to work twice as hard at everything – but it had paid off. Darren, the Commander of the Paladins and probably the most important alpha in the entire town, himself had told her she was ready. Ready to ride with his men. But still, after training she tended to be completely exhausted and clad in dirty, dusty leather armour. “I’ll be upstairs if you need me?” Her mother nodded.

 

When Vee was halfway up the stairs, she was joined by a gaggle of grinning omegas. 

“Veeeeee!” Mari took her hand and gripped it tight. “Can you imagine? We’ll be married tomorrow! I can’t wait to meet my future husband.” Vee smiled at her best friend. 

“I know, love,” she said softly. “You’ll get the most handsome, the richest and strongest alpha there is. I’ll make sure of it. Join me for a bath?” 

“Sure, I’d love to. Oh, oh, have you seen the dresses yet? Miss Haag said you’ll be picking them up tomorrow?” The two girls, one wearing a white dress with colourful tresses and long, dark brown hair, the other clad in the remnants of her leather armour and with dirt-streaked cheeks, made their way to the first floor. The hallway was lined with doors, some open, some closed, but all filled with young omegas who had yet to have their first heats. The orphanage was famous for the good care it took of its inhabitants, and most of the parents who had omega girls gave them to Miss Haag’s. She was known to make sure their girls married a fortune. That they were taken care of. 

“I haven’t, sorry. But I’m sure you’ll look simply divine in yours. I mean, you are pretty any way you dress.” Mari giggled and threw the door open to one of the many bathrooms.

“Thanks, Veevee! I just can’t wait!” Vee shooed the two younger girls, barely out of their diapers, out of the room gently and re-filled the tub with hot water, then got undressed. “Oh, look at you,” Mari sighed, softly, running her fingers over her back. As she graced the various bruises and cuts she’d acquired today, Vee winced. “They look so painful.” 

“It’s alright,” Vee said. “Just the hazards of training. They’ll be healed by tomorrow.” 

A strange silence descended upon the room as the two girls climbed into the tub, taking care to not disturb the water too much. 

“Why don’t you come to the Show with us tomorrow?” Mari asked softly as Vee ran soaped fingers through her hair, fingers tracing the omega-mark on her neck.

“We’ve talked about it,” Vee said just as quietly. “It’s just not for me. I know getting married is the way to go for omegas, but… I want more out of life than a stove and a husband that will come home at night.” 

“But…” Mari didn’t understand. She never had, probably never would. “We could weave some flowers into your hair, and put a dress on you that accentuates your features. You are pretty, you know?” Vee shook her head. It wasn’t that she didn’t think herself beautiful. Oh, she was a bit on the tall side, face a bit longer than was fashionable and her breasts flatter than what most men would want. It wasn’t anything a nice dress and a bit of paint couldn’t fix, though. 

“I know that, Mari.” 

“Then why…? I would love to get pregnant and take walks with you when we both have kids,” Mari said. “You don’t have to take these stupid herbal pills. The healer even said you can get heats again if you don’t take them.” 

“I don’t want to have heats,” Vee interrupted, getting out of the tub. She was feeling cold, all of a sudden. “I don’t… Look, Mari, I don’t want a husband that lets me do nothing but have babies and look pretty.” 

“That’s not what marriage is all about!” Mari said, her tone growing sharp. “You’ll always have someone to take care of you. Someone that will protect you. You’ll never want for anything!” 

“I don’t need to be protected.” Vee had been fighting with a group of six alphas the last two years. She was very much capable of protecting herself, and perfectly happy with staying what the others would call an “old maid”.

“But… what about being loved?” That was indeed the one thing that Vee would probably miss. An alpha meeting the omega of their dreams… The stories she’d heard. Heart-wrenching, beautiful. Love. 

“My mother needs help here.” 

“Your mother is a beta,” Mari interrupted. “She can find a maid. You… you don’t want to die alone, Veevee, do you?” 

“I’ll be fine,” she snapped. “I have what I want. I am a Paladin of Soline. I train with the most important people of the entire town!” 

“You’ll be old and ugly until you find a man!” Vee narrowed her eyes, her good mood gone. 

“Is it really so strange that I want to be married because of me, not because I grow wet once a month and beg for it until I feel silly with the need to have a man have me?” she yelled, stomping out of the room and slamming the door shut behind her. Mari was left sitting in the tub, looking dumb-founded. 

 

“Vee?” Her mother turned as she sat the table in the room at the bottom of the stairs. Vee stormed past, tears glittering at the corners of her eyes. 

“I’m going to bed,” she hissed, uncaring of what her mother must be thinking. Why couldn’t anybody ever understand? She wanted to get married, of course she did. Every girl with half a mind wanted to get married. But not like that. Not because she was different when she’d been born. She wanted to be allowed to fight alongside the men. To be recognized for what she had accomplished by herself. To be… accepted. Not taken because she happened to bear the mark on her neck, the crooked arch with the small lines holding it up, burnt into her skin at birth. It was… omegas were trained, told that the best thing to happen to them was going to a Show and be married off to some stranger they’d never met. Vee knew some of the alphas in town. They weren’t particularly nice guys. Arrogant, annoying, and sure of themselves, mostly. They weren’t bad people, all in all, but still. 

“Darling, what about dinner?” 

“’m not hungry.” She closed the door to her own chamber just beside the dining room with a little less anger than the bathroom door and slumped down on her bed. A soft knocking on the old wood and her mother came in. 

“What’s wrong, Vihela?” She shook her head. What did it matter? 

“I’ve had an argument with Mari. She said I could still go to the Show tomorrow.” Her mother sighed, sitting down next to her daughter. Flicking her braid over her shoulders, the older woman put her delicate hand over Vee’s. 

“You could, but that’ not what you want, is it?” Vee shook her head. 

“I want to be a paladin.”

“And you are, honey.” She smiled, not unkindly, straightening her apron. “Mari… all she ever wanted was to get married to a rich man. It’s the best thing most omegas can hope for.” 

“But we have the pills. You don’t have to get mated anymore.” 

“Those are still illegal,” her mother reminded her. “You’d get hanged for using them.” Vee sighed. 

“I know, mother.” 

“It’s a girl’s dream. To find a man that can never be unfaithful, because he cannot stand the smell of another.” 

“I wish I’d been born a beta,” Vee said. Her mother pulled her in a tight hug. 

“Darling, you are just fine the way you are. Don’t worry about Mari, she’ll come around. Now, you have a parade to ride tomorrow. With Darren. Shouldn’t you be happy?” Vee forced a small smile on her face. 

“I’m sorry, mother. I… I’m making this hard on you, too, don’t I? You’ll have to pay for my stuff in the future too.” A paladin’s pay was enough to live – for a man. She hardly got paid anything. Because, as a rule, women didn’t get paid. Her mother shook her head at Vee’s shoulder. 

“You’re not a burden, honey. You could never be. You are the one treasure your father left me, and I couldn’t be prouder of what you do.” 

“I’ll ask for a raise.”


	2. Raising the stakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The plot thickens (if you can call it plot).

Something was wrong. Vee felt it in the way he was staring at her, his head tilted to one side, wrinkles on his forehead. 

“What do you mean, a raise?” he asked. The room was empty save for the two of them. She had pleaded for it, because asking the Queen’s Paladin for a raise was probably the most stupid thing she had done so far – and she had done some spectacularly stupid things in her time. Like becoming the first female to ever make it to into Sir Darren of Notton, Queen of Her Supreme Majesty’s unit. Like lying about who she was to the most powerful man save for the King himself. Vee fought the urge to swallow, to bow her head and show the mark hidden under too much body paint. It felt… more difficult today, but it was never easy, and she always conquered the damned feeling. Instead of going meek, and agreeable, and do whatever the alpha demanded of her, she leant forward. Putting both hands on the heavy, wooden desk. His paper weight rattled. Her sword slapped against the soft leather armour, boosting her confidence. She was a paladin, for Soline’s sake. She wouldn’t cower, not for him, not for anyone. Alpha or no. 

“I work just as hard as everyone else in this place,” Vee said and narrowed her eyes at her commanding officer. “I spend the nights on patrol and I protect Soline’s temple. I train the acolytes and I fight when She calls on us. And yet the other men get more gold than I do. I ask that you rectify that.” Her heartbeat was erratic. He smelled nice. He always smelled nice, but today… Why did he have to be so distracting today of all days? She wanted to swallow, to - 

“The other men don’t have to go home every now and then to help their mothers in their orphanages,” he said, calmly. Vee wanted to yell, to get angry. Instead her fingers were shaking, and he looked at her like maybe he was suspecting something. Gods she hoped not. What was it about today? He just looked at her, nothing else. It was nothing else, so why did she feel like baring her neck and show her covered-up mark and be a good girl? 

“Maybe,” she managed, “maybe they should.” Her mouth was dry. “I agree that I spend less time than them around,” Vee said, her voice going soft. “And I don’t want as much pay as them. But even with that subtracted I still don’t earn enough. I – ”

“Have you been around an omega lately?” What was it today with Darren interrupting her today? He usually was polite no matter what. Had to, what with being the military representative of the Queen and all that. 

“Huh?” Vihela blinked. An omega? Why would he ask that? Did he suspect…? No, she shook her head, impossible. She was on suppressants, and those were amazing. The healer had gotten them from Germany, she thought he’d said, and they made her not have heats. Sure, technically the little green pills were forbidden, but they were the only thing that enabled her to live a relatively normal life. As much as any omega could, anyway. Smelling completely unlike herself was strange, but she got used to it, and becoming a paladin was the best thing she had ever done. Wearing the silver plate armour, sitting on an elegant horse and riding proudly side by side with the men protecting crown and belief, being a role model for the young omegas under her mother’s care. And Darren, too, had smiled at her when she’d made the test. Aced it, really. Her picture hung on his wall behind them, helmet in hand and a wide smile, her brown hair cut short like the other men. 

“You smell… different.” It sounded pained. Vee stopped short. She smelled…? 

“What’s the date today?” she asked, feeling white-hot panic seep into her stomach. Her armour felt too tight. 

“It’s the third of Soline’s Awakening. Why?” Fuck, Vee though faintly. She leaned back hastily, away from the distracting scent of Darren, and he reacted with a faint growl. This couldn’t be happening. She’d been working with the paladins for four years without ever slipping up. But if today was the third, and she felt this weird… No, it couldn’t be. She couldn’t have forgotten the suppressants. She’d take them every month as subscribed. Surely she had done so yesterday? Vee wanted to run her fingers through her hair, over the mark on her neck. She wanted to climb over the table and kiss and lick and bury herself in Darren. The mere thought of him, here, in his small office, armour askew and face contorted with - 

“I think one of the kids may go into heat,” she said faintly. Sir Darren of Notton blinked. 

“Go take a shower. We can’t have a conversation with you smelling of omega like that.” She’d forgotten. Still, there was always an emergency stash in her pouch. 

“Yes Sir. Sorry Sir.” Vee couldn’t avoid it any longer. She lowered her head in submission and prayed it looked like a bow, not an invitation. Judging from the growl coming from Darren and the way his fingertips were buried in the wood of his chipped desk, she was only partially successful. Shit. Vee had to get out of there. Out, out, and now. She turned on her heel, meaning to flee.  
Darren was faster. She was caged between him and the plaster wall before she could do so much as yelp. 

 

“Fuck,” he breathed. “Vee, you smell good.” It sounded pained, like the admission alone cost him. And it would – for an alpha to lose control like that and treating a woman he had no hold on like she was his… he could be hanged. And Sir Darren was proud of his restraint. His self-control. Fuck indeed. 

“Let me go,” Vee demanded. Her voice was firm, which surprised her. Sweat pooled on Darren’s forehead, and the young paladin could see him fighting his own nature. His eyes were troubled, and this close she could see the emotions trembling behind them. Her heart beat too fast.

“Sorry,” he said. “Don’t think I can.” He closed his eyes, which, up close, turned out to be a startling shade of chocolate brown. Vee didn’t think she’d ever noticed before. Why hadn’t she? She missed the colour of them as soon as Darren turned his head away, hiding his face close to her throat. Faintly the paladin was aware that she should push him away. Flee. Shove, fight him. She couldn’t. 

“You need to push me away,” Darren whispered, and his hot breath sent goose bumps racing down her back. And then, with a little more control in his voice, “What did you do with that omega anyway, to be so drenched in her smell? Roll in the hay?” The words were like ice water over Vihela’s instincts. She narrowed her eyes. How dare he insinuate something like that? If she had, if she did, that would get her sent to the gallows. 

“Fuck off,” she hissed, pushing her body forward into his, elbows shoving against the weak points in his joints. And if the push of her breasts against Darren’s leather armour felt slightly better than it had any right to, well, nobody would ever know, right?

 

Darren stumbled backwards with a hiss, and Vee had just a second to regret challenging the Queen’s Paladin before he charged, tackling her. She was slammed against the wall, his movements lethal and fluid and oh Soline, this was really happening. His hand did something at his side and for a moment Vee feared he was going to draw his sword. Instead, his calloused fingers clamped down over her own and she stared at him, wide-eyed and unseeing. He was too close. Vee’s heart beat too fast. Her breathing was too shallow. She should be fighting him, but couldn’t move. Then, there were lips on hers, hot and demanding and Darren was going to set off her heat. They shouldn’t be doing this. It was against the rules. The Paladin’s Order’s. Society’s. Never mind how good it felt where his hands held her still. Never mind how his growl vibrated against her lips when he sucked her lower lip into his mouth, nibbling and biting. He was almost feral in his intensity, and she wanted to just let him have this. Have her. Darren pushed impossibly closer, and Vee felt heat start in her belly and spread through her limbs. He was still wearing his armour, for Soline’s sake. It shouldn’t feel this good, the leather rubbing over her bare skin. She wasn’t wearing the protectors today, or maybe she’d taken them off before coming here. Vee couldn’t remember at that moment, and couldn’t care less. Not when it felt this good. His body was hotter than it had any right to be, and Vee wondered faintly why the alphas she’d had during her first heat had never felt this good. This right. 

 

Of course she had been attracted to Darren before – it was hard not to. But now it was like a fire, like a dam breaking and her heat would wash over her soon if this didn’t stop. Not that she wanted to right then. Vee sighed when he let go of her hands to bury his in her hair, pulling at the short strands. She gasped, forcing her mouth away to suck in much needed air, and Darren’s hands moved down to her neck. Adrenaline flooded her veins. He would feel the paint. She shoved at him, because while yes, Darren was a really skilled kisser and yes, that was an impressive sized dick pressing against her thighs and yes, that felt absolutely incredible and also, yes, that was exactly what she wanted, needed, that if she gave in now and he realized she didn’t just smell of an incredibly needy omega but that she was one, her life would be over. So she mewled, once, softly, hoping he didn’t notice, and then kneed him in the balls. 

 

He went down with an oooph, and Vee muttered an apology before running out of the room and to the barracks as fast as she could. She was shaking, her face burning with it and her legs barely supporting her. Soline’s mercy, had she really just kissed Darren of Notton, of all people? The Queen’s Paladin? The most important bloody alpha the whole town had to offer? She was an unmated omega. What had she been thinking?

“Please let him think I’m a lesbian,” Vihela whispered, ignoring the questioning looks the other men in the yard sent her way. There was a practicing session underhand, the young paladins-in-training with their swords drawn and yelling attacks while the quarter master shook his head about their techniques. They stopped in their exercises to stare. Please oh good Soline, she repeated her silent prayer, let Darren think I’m gay. That would be less bad than him realizing that he had an omega in his unit. Almost anything would be less bad than realizing that she was almost twenty-two and unmated. That she had never been to a single auction in her life and wasn’t interested in being mated (much). No husband, no matter how rich, would want a woman in armour that could defeat him easily in a bodily altercation. And she didn’t fancy giving up being a paladin to stand behind a stove and cook for some nobleman she’d never even met. She liked the alphas around the barracks well enough, the young noblemen and commoners hoping for a better life. But she didn’t want to be married to any of them. Well, maybe Darren, but he was about as interested in marriage as he was in the newest developments   
in kitchen utensils. 

 

Rain was falling in soft drops, making the unit’s yard more of a mud slide than an actual field, and tears were running down her cheeks. Vee hoped the men would think she’d been scolded. That none had the presence of mind to catch her own scent mixing with theirs. There was no telling what a group of young alphas would do if there was an omega on the brink of her heat running right through their ranks. Plus they all had their weapons drawn. Shit, shit, shit. She made it to the barracks without incident and sent a quick thank you up to her beloved goddess. Her pouch was where she left it, out on the wooden bench of the armoury. 

“Phoenix, that you? What’s that smell?” She jumped about a foot in the air and hastily swallowed the pills in her hand. Wincing, she forced them down. Those suppressants really tasted like so much horse shit. 

“Ben?” Her voice came out way too high, and the quartermaster frowned at her. Had he interrupted the training session because of her? He approached her with heavy footsteps, coming around the corner and tilting his head. 

“Have you been crying, Phoenix?” They’d given her that nickname after she’d gotten back up after a devastating blow from Darren. She had barely been able to see anything, her head ringing and her ears exploding with pain, blood running down her cheek from a cut at her eyebrow. But get up she had, and Ben had exclaimed that she “was like a damned phoenix gettin’ back up after that blow, the sucker.” 

“I just need a shower, then I’ll be joining you for training.” He blinked at her, shaking his head. 

“If you don’t want to talk about it…” Vee nodded. 

“Thanks,” she said. 

“But,” Ben sighed, stepping closer and putting a hand on her shoulder, “you should really take more care where you put those pills of yours, little Phoenix.” 

~

As a general rule, being kneed in the balls sucked. That day, Darren learned that while this fact was indubitably true, being kneed by someone wearing spiked armour was worse. And it only got more painful the more fighting experience the kneeing party had. 

“Fuck,” he wheezed, hands into fists over his genitals. He tried to breathe through the pain, willing away the tears in his eyes. There was no room for even regret (had he really kissed Vee, of all people, without her consent?), just the white-hot pain. He thought she might have apologized, but wasn’t sure. Making his way back to his desk and onto the cushioned chair was worse than he though three steps had any right to be.

Darren didn’t know how long he’d been staring at the closed door without actually seeing it. Until the pain faded, and then a good minute longer. How, exactly, had they gone from talking about a raise to kissing like their life depended on it? And why hadn’t Vee fought back? He hadn’t held her that strongly, he didn’t think. And why had she smelled of omega in heat? The thought of Vihela, the only woman to ever make it to the Paladin’s Order, doing… that… with another girl… He thought he should feel revolted, maybe. Instead, the feeling that burned white-hot in his stomach was an odd mix of fascination, and – anger.

 

Of course there had been talk. That no woman in her right mind would want to fight. Not for anything. That a beta wasn’t fierce enough for the task of protecting Queen and Country. That she had to have something wrong with her. He had paid little mind to that, to his men’s gossip. He had openly discouraged it. Vihela had never given any indication that she was into bestiality. In fact, Darren remembered her looking at some of his men with open appreciation. He also remembered not liking it. It distracted them – and her – from their tasks. But her liking… a… female… was the only possible explanation for her smell. She had been tested, she was a beta. So. The conclusion was sobering. Vee liked… women. Like… well. Like he did. Like a man would. How did that even work? Could it work? And if so, who was the woman she shared herself with? And why. Had Vihela van der Haag. The only female paladin. The strongest, most determined woman he knew. Not fought back? 

 

There was an explanation, but Darren didn’t like it one bit. The one explanation he refused to consider. That she hadn’t fought because she didn’t dare to. Women were generally treated like lesser people – they were weak, and better suited to the stove and household. They didn’t fight. But he had made sure to teach Vee how to beat off even the most idiotic of men. Even himself, because sometimes he didn’t trust himself to stay away. She couldn’t be afraid of him. Could she? His heart was beating too fast, hammering in his ribcage. Good Soline above, she didn’t fight because he was her commanding officer. The thought was… frankly, horrible. Utterly, and completely horrible. She was strong. Vee… she was so strong. She should’ve known. She should have. It couldn’t be. Why hadn’t she fought? The thought turned around and around in his head, filling his mind like poisonous fog. Why hadn’t Vihela fought? Why had she let him kiss her like that?  
And more importantly: Why the hell had he kissed her like that? He did like Vee, sure. Would have considered asking her for her hand in marriage, but he was her commanding officer and that just wouldn’t have been right. Plus, she wasn’t an omega, and his parents and family would never approve anyway. So. Was it just the smell of her – of her… what did one call a female lover? Girl…friend? Anyway, that other woman on Vee? Intoxicating was what it had been. And Vee was all pliant despite the armour. Oh god, that leather. And strong, controlled muscles shifting, going soft under his lips. It was, Darren reasoned, probably just the scent of Vee’s – her girl… friend…lover…person. Soline’s stinking slit, he needed a shower. A cold one. And also to stop thinking about Vee and another girl. Would   
that other female be older? Younger? He wasn’t sure which thought was worse. But a needy omega in heat and Vee… 

 

Darren basically bolted from his room, grateful for the fact that he didn’t need to cross the muddy yard to get to a bathroom. The bucket was full of cool water and he stepped under the strange contraption that Ben had come along with some three months ago. Pulling on a length of rope tipped the bucket and drenched one in water. Darren wasted no time in cleaning himself up, putting his linen shirt and leather pants back on. He needed to think of something else, anything else. 

“Hey, Ben? You still busy with training?” His friend turned from the young acolytes as his commanding officer left the building. 

“Just ‘bout done. Why is your hair wet?” Darren cursed his friend’s perceptiveness. 

“I had a row with Vee,” he said, stepping into the mud without a care for his polished boots. Someone would be cleaning them later anyway. Ben frowned. 

“I just talked to her. Poor thing’s been crying.” 

“Crying?” Guilt, cold and gnawing, fell like ice cubes into Darren’s gut. Shit. 

“Dar, you’re white as a sheet. What’s wrong? What in Soline’s name happened?” He shook his head. Crying. Vee. Oh Soline. What had he done? And then he’d been sitting in his office fantasizing of all things. Vee must’ve been terrified. 

“I think… I may have…” How did he put this delicately? “I forced myself on her.” Right, so delicate wasn’t really his strong suit anyway. 

“You… what? Dar, I don’t believe you. She’s way stronger than you, you’d have noticed something like that.” Ben put a hand on his shoulder. “She can fight. You taught her, you idiot.” 

“I’m her commanding officer. And… she smelled so – I don’t know.” He wouldn’t reveal that secret. There was no telling how Ben would take that piece of information. It was bad enough that he enjoyed   
their – kiss – so much that he’d needed a cold shower.

“So you’re into her. That’s no secret, least it ain’t to me.” Wait, it wasn’t? Ben tilted his head. “She didn’t fight ya?” 

“Not one lick,” Darren said. “I… She… I know a thing about her that nobody else can ever know.” 

“She’s infertile, isn’t she?” Darren blinked. 

“Huh?” 

“Can’t have babies. That’s why she hasn’t found a husband yet.” 

“Uhm, no, that’s not it,” he said. 

“Right. Whatever it is she’s hiding, you know. And you… threatened to tell everyone?” 

“I would never,” Darren exclaimed, angry. “She’s one of my paladins, whether she does girls or not.” 

“…She does girls?” Ben blinked. Had Darren really just said that? After yelling about not telling Vee’s secret? His quartermaster reacted with howling laughter. 

“You think she’s into girls? Soline’s spongy asshole, what gave you that idea?” 

“She’s smelled of omega.” 

“So?” 

“So she’s a beta.” Ben was shaking with laughter. 

“Right. So you think the only reason a beta female can smell of an omega is because they had sex? Bloody hell, Dar.” Darren started to feel really stupid. But… it was the only explanation that made sense,   
wasn’t it? “Listen, mate. She could’ve accompanied a girl in heat to her room, hugging her until an alpha was at hand. Or taking a group of them to the auction, so they can be taken home to a man that’ll take good care of them.” Darren blinked. Yes, those were… good reasons, actually. He felt heat rise to his cheeks. “You didn’t ask her if she was.. doing girls. Did you?” 

“No!” Ben nodded. 

“Good. Now, go and apologize to her. She’s in the backyard, hitting a hay dummy like it personally wronged her.” Darren sighed. 

“I’ve been an idiot, right?” Ben nodded, clapping his friend’s shoulder. 

“Just a little.”


	3. Rainy Days

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to make this clear: I'm not homophobic. The people in the time period this story is set in, however, were.  
> Also, this is just a little sex, and a lot of arguing.

Vee was staring at one of the hay dummies. Her hair was plastered to her head, the short, usually spiky blond strands flat and her expression fierce. Darren blinked, slowly. Her clothes, the leather armour and boots and her linen shirt, were soaked through. He could see every line of her body, every shifting muscle and every movement. A sound escaped his throat, and the broadsword she held in both hands clattered to the ground. Mud splashed, and dark brown splashes stained her cheek as she whirled around. Vee’s eyes were wide, slightly feral and Darren thought he saw a hint of fear in them. She widened her stance on instinct, turning her side to him – an easily defensible pose. 

“It’s just me, Vihela.” She relaxed as soon as she recognized him, or rather: Her feet shifted back into a more neutral position, like she might look at a bandit or someone she didn’t entirely trust. He saw the tense set of her shoulders, though

“Sir Darren.” He approached slowly, making sure to keep his hands low, unthreatening. She blinked. “What can I do for you, Sir? I’m almost through with today’s exercises.”   
“Listen, I won’t tell anyone. It’s not my secret.” Vee nodded, slowly.

“Alright.” It sounded like a dismissal. Darren shook his head, mind filled with images of Vee and another girl. But… how she chose to spend her free time was her decision. 

“As long as it doesn’t interfere with your work again,” he added. 

“I’ll make sure to never come here smelling of omega again,” Vee assured him. Something was still wrong.

 

The paladin was simply too tense still. She was barely moving at all, her eyes focused on him, her pupils strangely wide. As if she was… Well. If she had spent some time with an omega in heat, it would have to rub off, right? He shook his head, once, to rid himself of the images. Vee wasn’t allowed to… she couldn’t… 

“It’s not my place to judge,” he croaked. Good Soline, who was he kidding? He hated the thought. Hated it with a passion. That Vee would share herself with some random bitch in heat like she was no different than the average alpha. Because she was. Better. She had fought tooth and claws for her position. She was proud of what she had achieved, she stood on her own legs. Supported her mother, and protected Queen and Country. Vee was… was… “Please tell me you’re not actually sleeping with an omega.” 

 

The words slipped out unexpectedly, without his consent. They were both softer, and a lot more angry, than he wanted them to be. Vee squared her shoulders, facing him with sudden anger in her eyes. 

“Pardon me?” The words were harsh, pounding on his nerves like the rain on his head. 

“You heard me,” he snarled, advancing on her. Something was setting his blood on fire. Anger, hot, burning, like acid, like poison. “I said, do tell me that you aren’t fucking an omega.” Vee inhaled sharply. 

“How is that any of your business?!” she demanded. He was standing barely three feet from her, suddenly, could see every raindrop rolling down her cheeks. Her eyes, bright and angry. Her hands balled to fists. Darren had nothing to say to that – nothing, if he didn’t want to say the truth. The truth, that he – that he - 

“I can’t have one of my best men fuck a random bitch in heat and distract everyone with their stupidity!” 

“Oh, like whom? You? Because you couldn’t resist the scent of one measly omega, no, the great Sir Darren of somewhere or other with his mighty alpha status couldn’t resist kissing someone that smelled slightly different from usual?” She bared her teeth at him, and Darren felt something in the conversation shift. He took another step forward, noted how Vee took one back. 

“I did not lose control,” he said, lowly. Vee sneered. 

“Because that wasn’t you who said I should punch him because he couldn’t stop, then, was it?” 

“If you were so opposed to my kissing you,” he whispered, leaning in, closer, closer. Seeing fear flash in her eyes was satisfying on a level he didn’t dare define. “Then why, Vee, didn’t you fight?” She reeled back, like he had punched her, hands clenching and unclenching at her sides. 

“Not like I could,” she spat. “You caged me. Backed me into a wall.” He shoved her, watched her stumble, gain her equilibrium, and get ready to fight him. He smiled, all teeth. 

“Don’t insult me,” he said. “I taught you well. If a man wanted to touch you and you don’t want it, you can kick him into tomorrow no problem. Instead, you went for my balls. Like a scared. Little. Girl.” He   
punctuated the last words with a pointed fist strike. Vee dodged them easily. 

“You’re my commanding officer.” She ducked under a wide swing, aimed a sharp strike with her fingernails at his ribs, but stopped herself at the last moment. Vee was so close, so close he could see her inhale sharply, exhale, and turn away. Aborting the attack. “You’re…” The second time, the words were softer, and as he shoved her back, into the mud where she landed on her back, he saw her eyes. Finally clear of the fear. She was excited. Her cheeks flushed, her chest expanding with panting breaths. Her pupils were blown, there was barely any blue left in her eyes. 

“As if that ever stopped you, Vee.” He was towering, standing tall, his shadow encasing her smaller form. She didn’t get back up. 

“I’ll tell you something, princess,” he said, bowing slightly at the hip. “I’ll tell you why you didn’t fight. I’ll tell you why you’re not fighting me now. Because you could. I’ve seen you punch grown men into oblivion. You may not be as strong as we are, and you’re not as fast, maybe. But you’re agile and small, and you know where to hit to make it count. I’ve made bloody sure.” He grinned, and saw her eyes flicker. Suddenly, he didn’t much care who Vee was doing in her free time. Didn’t care. Not with the way she was looking at him. “I’ll tell you,” he said, softly. “You’re not fighting because you. Don’t. Want. To.” He sank onto his knees, heedless of the mud squelching against his pants. “You,” he said, his face suddenly too close to hers, “you, Vihela van der Haag, want me to kiss you.” 

“As if,” she said, the first words she’d spoken since he had basically sat down on top of her. “I don’t even like you, bastard.” She turned her head to the side, and something there caught his attention. Darren was painfully hard, which made it rather difficult to pay attention to anything but the fucking way Vee smelled, but a speck of dirt on her neck was – different somehow. He reached down to touch it, unthinkingly, and Vee all but flinched away. Darren remembered, also quite suddenly, that she had reacted the same way when he had touched her neck before, in his office. Like he was intruding. 

“Don’t touch me,” she said, and her voice was small. Afraid, almost. 

“Why not?” he asked. “Why should I not touch your neck, Vee? What would I find if I did?” 

“Don’t touch me,” Vee repeated. Darren leaned closer yet. Her face was only a hair’s breadth away, and he could feel her chest move under his. His hands fell down into the mud, framing her face. Still, Vee wasn’t fighting. She wasn’t kicking him away. She wasn’t aiming punches at his ribs to break them. She wasn’t. 

“You’re not fucking an omega, are you?” he asked, very, very softly. Vee stared up at him and slowly shook her head. Without ever breaking eye contact, she reached up and grabbed his left wrist. 

“I am not,” she said. He could see that she was afraid, nervous. “I never have.” She lifted his hand, and hers felt so delicate around his lower arm. “I don’t want to, either.” His fingers grazed her neck, and though a visible shudder went through her body, she didn’t move away. She did, however, close her eyes. His heart hammered against his ribcage. What was she doing? What in the name of everything was going on? He had a suspicion, but it was so outlandish, so strange, that it didn’t compute. She couldn’t be. Could she? “I haven’t had prolonged contact to another omega, either. At least,” she added with a wry grin, “not more than any other day.”

 

His hand touched her hairline, covered and baked in mud, and she guided his fingers to a patch of wrinkled skin. A scar. He inhaled sharply. Not a scar, a mark. He recognized the shape; everyone who was anyone was trained to recognize it. Darren stared down at her. Lifting his body from hers, just a little. Recoiling in shock, maybe. 

“Vee?” His voice was rough. “What… what….” She laughed, suddenly, but it wasn’t a happy sound. 

“Don’t you get it, Darren?” She pressed his fingers into her skin. It couldn’t possibly feel good. “Don’t you see?” 

“But… but – how- what?” 

“Suppressants,” she said, simply.

~

She was shaking. Oh Soline, but she was scared. Didn’t understand why she’d done that, either. Oh, sure, she had reasons: Vee was tired of fighting. The suppressants only worked so well if the heat was already underway. Darren was an alpha, and she did, despite whatever she might claim, in fact like him. Liked liked him. As she said, there were reasons. Of course, there was also the risk of him sending her to the gallows, and her being shamed, then hunted, then hanged. But with the way he was gaping, like a fish, and with the way he was still too close, she really didn’t think so. Still, this was terrifying. She’d told him. Soline’s tits, she’d sworn to never ever tell anyone other than Mari and her mother. And now… now he knew. He knew, and why was he staring at her like that? Why wasn’t he moving away? Or, alternately, taking advantage? She would hurt him if he did try, of course, no matter how much her body demanded otherwise. At least she hoped she would. 

“Suppressants?” he repeated. Vee sighed, and her breasts grazed his chest. She fought a shudder. 

“Pills,” she explained, voice more breathy than she would’ve liked. “They… I haven’t had a heat in years.” 

“Why?” She laughed again. Of course he didn’t understand that one. He was great, an alpha, could do what he wanted and be who he wanted. He didn’t have to be married to count as someone. 

“I wanted a life,” she said, simply. He blinked. 

“No, I mean why didn’t you tell me?” 

 

Now it was her turn to gape. 

“Are you stupid or something? Do you know how any sane person would react to the news that, oh, hey, they have an omega in a group of alphas that only doesn’t have heats because she takes pills that – let’s not forget – half the population thinks are witchcraft? I think, possibly, that I overestimated your bloody intelligence.” She was shaking, and not the good kind, either. “Do you,” she asked, pressing his fingernails into her skin until it burned with the pain, “have any,” she punctuated the words with a sharp tug on his elbow that sent him sprawling on top of her, “idea how bloody,” his body pressed the air from her lungs, but it didn’t matter, it never had, “close I am to my first heat in two years?” Darren looked at her. Like he couldn’t believe she was real, or maybe like he could believe it and wasn’t sure the world had not gone insane in the span of the last few seconds. She looked him right into the eyes. It was wrong. She shouldn’t want this. Him. The suppressants weren’t working, probably, or maybe they were and she just really, really wanted Darren. Maybe. Maybe - 

“You’re an omega,” he whispered. 

“Yeah.” 

“You sure?” She nodded against his chest. 

“Pretty sure. I wear the mark and everything.” 

“So… why aren’t you, you know, mated?” Still hung up on that, was he? 

“I don’t need a mate,” she said. “I don’t need a man to be happy. Or an alpha.” She grunted when his fingers loosened and blood rushed back into her neck. “Especially not an alpha. I’ve worked with you guys. You’d make terrible spouses.” Vee grinned. Darren smelled good. “Carter sleeps with everything that moves because he thinks he’s entitled to. Luca… well, let’s just say he’s not very gentle with women. Anthony much prefers to look at you and Ben than at me. Ben… well, he might be the exception to the rule.” 

“And me?” 

 

“Oh, you,” she laughed, harshly. When had this turned into an interrogation? She was painfully wet. When had that even started? “You think you know it all, don’t you? Pride yourself on your control and your manners. Look at you. You, Sir Darren, are sitting on top of a young woman that is in no way connected to you, or belongs to you, and cannot possibly get up. Well,” she amended when she felt him poking at her thighs. “Maybe that one’s not quite right.” 

“I fail to hear any reasons that make me sound like a bastard. Just like a warm-blooded alpha that has a willing omega beneath him.” 

“And you haven’t even tried to capture me and send me to the dungeons.” Vee shrugged as much as she could. “You don’t take those rules you make others obey quite so serious, do you?” 

“I don’t think I like the way you’re talking to me,” Darren said, slowly. She nodded. 

“And you really, really like that authority you have going for you.” 

“You’re one to talk,” he said, almost sweetly. “You’re on your back, in the mud, about to be taken by a man you’ve no obligation to. So, tell me, why aren’t you fighting, princess?” 

“Because,” Vee said, lifting her hips and shifting them just so, “I am an omega in heat, and cannot possibly be held responsible for my behaviour.” 

“If that goes for you,” Daren whispered, his teeth grazing her earlobe, “then why should it be different for me?” 

“Have you no – no self…” Vee tried to finish her sentence, but a bite, short and sharp, at the mark on her neck silenced her effectively. 

“Doesn’t look like it,” he said, and his hot breath on the cooling mud made Vee sigh. She was staring up at the sky, unseeing, as he worried at the mark. “You smell good,” he added. She nodded. 

“Your men will find us.” 

“And they’ll probably cheer,” Darren agreed and pulled on the straps of her leather armour. She let him, her legs parting. 

“They’ll know.” He snorted and then kissed her shoulder. 

“They’re men,” he said. “They won’t notice a thing.” 

“You think very – ah, very li-little o them, hm?” She tried to keep the conversation up, but her heart thundered so loud that she could barely hear her own thoughts. 

“Not them,” Darren said before he tugged her pants down. It occurred to Vee, suddenly, that in the mud on a rainy day wasn’t particularly how she wanted to have sex with Darren. With that came a startling moment of clarity that yes, she did indeed want this. The heat was probably a big part of it, but – but. She liked Darren. He was mostly nice, and he took care of those around him. He never treated her like she was – ahem, beneath him. Vee looked at him. 

 

“Do you like me?” she asked. “Not as an omega, or as a woman,” she added. “But me?” Darren buried his face between her legs, licking at her shaking thighs. 

“You really think I’d be doing this to just anybody, Vee? We’re lying in the mud. I have mud in places I never wanted to have mud. Yes, I do like you.” She nodded. 

“Alright,” she said. “Alright.” He kissed her, barely avoiding her outer lips and she wanted to curse. Instead, she forced her urges back. “If you ask me to marry you after this,” she said, “I will neuter you.”   
She could feel his smirk against her skin, and moaned softly. 

“Can you be quiet now?” As it turned out, she couldn’t. Darren didn’t mind, though, not judging from the appreciative noises he made between her legs. Vee was trembling, shaking, falling apart and burning up all at the same time. She couldn’t think around the tongue inside her or the man between her legs. She couldn’t breathe when he finally, after she’d stopped seeing stars, pushed inside her, or when he filled her with his seed. She couldn’t think for quite some time after that, either.   
Darren looked at her face, sweaty and sated and tired. 

 

“What now?” he asked. Vee looked down at herself. 

“Now,” she said, “we forget this ever happened, and I take a shower.” Darren blinked. 

“But…” 

“If you ask me to marry you,” she repeated, “I will take my broadsword and cut off your balls.” He nodded, once. 

“Alright, but…” 

“Will you have me sent to the dungeons now?” It came out a lot more meekly than she would have liked. 

“No.” She waited for him to elaborate, but nothing came. 

“No?” Vee repeated. Darren nodded. 

“You don’t want to be asked to marry me, and you don’t want me to tell you that I love you, so, yes. No.”


	4. Caught up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darren gets sold like a horse - but that's okay, Vee likes him anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand done.

The parade was both the best and the worst thing that ever happened to Vee. She was sitting on a delicate white horse, its cream mane done up with small flowers and its tail elegantly braided. Her short hair had been dyed with coloured dust so she now had two white and two black stripes in it: Soline’s Signs, they called them. The other men sported them as well, and riding right next to Ben through the crowded streets, head held high, felt heavenly. She was proud, proud of having made it, proud for having been considered for the parade, so proud for being part of a group of five to ride towards the temple to welcome Soline into the new Cycle. On the other hand, she was not only riding next to Ben, but also to Darren, and that was decidedly awkward. She couldn’t quite manage to look him in the eyes, which was stupid because she liked him and a bout of sex in the mud shouldn’t change that. Not that it had been particularly good sex. Or rather, it had been, but getting the mud out of her hair and her armour and her backside had taken up so much time that the nice, pleasant feeling of the afterglow had all but vanished. And now here she was, sitting on a beautiful mare and riding between two men she admired, and felt as awkward as when she first rejected a man. Brilliant. 

“Smile, Phoenix,” Ben murmured, his lips barely moving. “Your friends are looking at you. Be proud, Vihela.” She nodded slightly and forced a smile on her lips. Ben shook his head. “You look like someone ate your pony. Soline’s hairy legs, please at least pretend you’ve not been doing my best friend and feeling awkward about it, a’ight?” Vee blushed scarlet, her head whipping around to stare at the older paladin. 

“What?” she hissed. Ben laughed, and the people pressing closer to the small path they were riding along joined in. He always had had an infecting laugh. 

“You heard me, Phoenix. Who, do you think, kept the other paladins busy, hm?” 

“You… what?” Ben lifted a hand to wave them to a stop. Their small parade came to a halt at the Temple Place. It was a perfect round, the pillars with the statues of the gods adorned with wild flowers and   
the scent of warm food was strong in the air. Around them, hundreds of people waited on small grandstands for the show to come. For the paladins’ fight against the demons. 

“You… you…” 

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell. Provided, of course, you don’t break Dar’s heart. If you do that, I might just have to announce that you and he are a thing and force you to get married.” His voice was light, but Vee was rather sure Ben wasn’t joking. She swallowed and was about to answer, but the “demons” chose that moment to run from the small spaces between the grandstands towards the assembled paladins.

 

Plate armour, as a general rule, wasn’t made for looking good in it. Vee discovered this in a shocking moment of clarity when one of the men clad in red leather, horns pushed onto his forehead and with his face painted a gruesome shade of yellow rammed into her. Oh, it protected her so she barely felt the impact when she tumbled to the ground, but getting up always involved flapping her arms uselessly like she was some sort of completely insane turtle. Darren pulled her on her feet, whirled and cut at another of the costumed men with his ceremonial sword, didn’t even wait for her to get her footing back. Vee felt warmth flood her stomach at the notion – she wasn’t some damsel in distress, and if Darren trusted her like that, trusted her to take care of herself with her own weapon, well. Maybe that meant the sex hadn’t ruined much of anything after all.

“Thanks,” she said, rolling her shoulders and picking the fight up where she’d left off. She was sweaty under the silver plate, and her arms got stiff sooner than she would have liked, but whenever she felt tired or needed a second, the other paladins were there. They had trained like that, to anticipate each other’s weaknesses and to intercept when necessary. Anthony took a blow for her that would have probably sent Vee to the ground again, and she shoved Luca aside to parry a heavy slash that shook her lower arm.   
The fight took less than ten minutes. Most fights didn’t even last that long, most battles weren’t waged for days, or weeks. People tired out, made mistakes, and got killed. Of course, since this was the great parade of Soline, nobody actually died and the men disguised as demons were only pushed back with the angry shouts and whistles of their audience. Vee’s breath came in harsh pants, and the other paladins stood proudly by her side, swords lifted and cheering. Her heart pounded like a sledgehammer in her chest; she felt awesome. Her arms burned, breathing was acid in her lungs and her cheeks were flushed as she ripped off her helmet and revealed the stripes in her hair. She yelled their victory, Soline’s victory over the darkness, out with the men. She was one of them. Vee was a paladin. She had known that before, of course, but it never felt quite that acute than it did that day, that moment. Luca slapped her on the shoulder, Tony hugged her with one arm and Darren grinned at her, cheeks red and eyes glittering. 

 

Vee blinked at him, and realized, quite suddenly, that it was the first time in two days that she’d looked him in the eyes. He was happy, or rather: proud, and radiated with it. His hair was mussed, the three stripes slightly askew and sweat plastered it to his head. And… he didn’t look at her any different than, say, Luca and Tony and Ben. 

“Soline! Soline! Soline!” The audience was yelling their goddess’ name, cheering and raising their hands in Her sign. The Paladin’s joined in; the entire place, packed with people, was calling Soline’s name. It felt amazing. She swung her leg over the horse’s back, made it rear back onto its hind legs, sword raised. It looked effortless, but was in fact the result of two years of training and countless falls off the horse. The people’s cheers seemed to get impossibly louder, and Vee spotted her mother and Mari in the audience. Both of them were grinning proudly, and when the other men got back on their horses as well and they rode towards the temple, Mari called her name. Vee couldn’t stop grinning, and wouldn’t have to been able if her life depended on it. 

“Let’s get that fire going!” Darren yelled. He was barely audible over the ruckus. The temple doors burst open and the head priestess stepped out, hands raised over her head with a lit torch. The other priestesses followed suit, all clad in their dark red robes and all with the torches the paladins took from them while riding up the stairs and into the temple proper.   
The evening brought with it the Show, and afterwards Vee bid her goodbyes to Mari. 

“I’ll miss you,” she whispered, hands clasped with her friend’s. 

“You can visit me anytime.” Mari kissed her on the cheek, smiling softly. Vee nodded. 

“Make sure he treats you right,” she said. It was dark outside, and the backside of the orphanage was deserted. The Show was long since over, and the upper windows were lit where the girls packed their   
things. Before they were taken to their new homes, they all got the chance to say goodbye to their “mother”. The woman who had raised them was standing at the door, smiling tearfully while Vee waited in the back to say a quieter farewell to her friends. 

“I will,” Mari promised. “You’ve taught me enough of your craziness to be able to break his kneecaps if he tries something funny.” Vee nodded again. 

“You’ll write?” Mari smiled fondly. 

“Promise, Vee. And you… don’t let that man of yours wait too long, hm?” Vee blinked. 

“What man?” she asked. Mari smiled. 

“That paladin who hugged you after the Parade, of course, honey. He looks at you like you hang the stars.” Vee blinked. Sure, Darren had hugged her, but - 

“That’s only because I –I mean, we…” she stammered, blushing. 

“You didn’t!” Mari exclaimed with a bout of helpless giggles. 

“I didn’t mean to!” Vee tried to defend herself. “It was just… I’d forgotten to take the pills and he just… well, I mean, he is kind of nice to look at, and he smells divine, so…” Her friend laughed a little louder, so Vee put her hands over Mari’s mouth. “Shut up,” she hissed. 

“But you sound exactly like these love-struck girls you hate so much, Vee,” Mari said, voice muffled. Her friend blinked. Did she really? “Oh, come on! That sounds like something right out of the theatre pieces your mother enjoys watching so much.” 

“I do not,” she protested in a hiss. Her mother was saying her goodbyes to another girl, and for a moment their little hiding place was dimly lit with warm, yellow glow. Vee feared she was blushing again. Mari looked entirely too delighted. 

 

“’He smells nice’? Please, Vee. You sound exactly like that young thing we saw on stage the other day.” 

“I do not!” Vee protested again. “And it wasn’t very nice, either.” Mari tilted her head. 

“You – didn’t want to?” 

“No, that’s not it,” Vee sighed. “Just… it was rainy and dirty and I was lying in the mud. It was gross.” 

“Did he at least offer to marry you?” Mari sounded oddly sad at her admission. 

“Bloody hell, Mari! No, he didn’t! If he had, I’d have had to cut his balls off.” 

“What? Why?” 

“Because, you silly girl, I will not marry a man who just happened to have sex with me. That’s not actually a good base to build a life on.” Mari snorted. 

“I’m going to marry a man who I’ve never even seen before today, Vee. At least you know the alpha. You’ve fought beside him, and all that.”  
The words gave Vee pause. True, she did know Darren. Knew the way he moved as well as her own, the way he would react if he was pissed or pleased. And, she thought with quickening heartbeat, she knew what he looked like in the throes of passion. Mari… well. 

“I’m sorry,” Vee said. Mari hugged her friend, tugging her close to her heart. 

“Listen, Vee. I’m not sad that I’ll be well taken care of. I might even grow to love the man I’ll marry. But… It sounds to me you already like – what’s his name, anyway?” 

“Darren.” 

“…this Darren. And quite a bit, or you wouldn’t have slept with him. Heat or no heat,” Mari interrupted her friend’s protest before she could even find the words. “Look, at least give him a chance? The way   
he looked at you… I don’t think it’s because you’re an omega. It wasn’t – I don’t know, it wasn’t like he thought he had a right to you. More like… you mattered. Like you were his universe, or something just as cheesy.” Vee, enveloped in the familiar scent of her best friend, burrowed her face closer to Mari’s heart. Could she be right? Could she be? With Darren, that was. 

“You really think he likes me?” 

“Yes, you silly girl,” Mari said softly. “You should talk to him, at least. And don’t tell him you’ll neuter him. Men react sensitively to anything involving their balls.” Vee sobbed out a laugh. 

“I’ll miss you,” she repeated. 

“Me, too, Vee. Me, too.”

~

Darren watched as alpha after alpha left the Show with a satisfied smile on their faces. He and Ben were standing in the doorway opposite the orphanage, keeping mostly to the shadows. 

“Times like these make me remember the day I met Anna,” Ben said. Darren, who had been busy staring at the well-lit exit of the orphanage, frowned to turn to his oldest friend. 

“But Anna’s a beta,” he said. Ben laughed. 

“I still met her at a Show. My older brother went to get his omega – the first in our family, ever. And I was so excited to be allowed to come along. Anna was with her brother, too, to make sure he didn’t embarrass the family, or so she says.” Ben shrugged. “It was pretty much love at first sight.” Darren blinked. He had known, of course, that Ben was the youngest of six brothers, and of six alphas as well. His family had never been overly rich, and the prices for omegas at the Shows were too much for them. 

“That is… actually kind of romantic,” Darren said, thinking of the round, happy woman that Ben had married. Anna had trouble walking these days – they were expecting their second child, and Ben was just as excited as he had been before his daughter had been born.

“It is, it is,” Ben said. Darren nodded, turning back to look at the Show. “Are you worried Phoenix will walk out with a man by her side?” He blinked. 

“What?” 

“Well, now that she has to fear being seen as an omega, and all that.” 

“What?” Darren repeated. “Wait, you know?” Ben laughed. 

“You’re an idiot, Dar,” he said. “Of course I know. It’s really not so hard to spot. She covers the mark up with paint, and really there’s no reason for a girl to cover her neck in paint other than the mark. If you guys used your brains every now and then…” Darren snorted. 

“I really was blind, wasn’t I?” 

“She fooled all of the others as well,” Ben replied, shrugging. “Besides, our little paladin would never just get married to a random guy she’s never met before.” 

“It’s the respectable thing to do,” Darren argued. 

“And when has Vihela van der Haag ever been known to do the respectable thing? She’s a goddamned Paladin, man.” Darren stopped to consider the words: They were definitely true. Vee had never stopped to do what others expected her to. She had trained just as hard as the men, harder, in fact, to become what she wanted to and go where she wanted to. He had never met a woman quite as stubborn as her. 

“True,” Darren admitted. Ben shook his head. 

“You’re an idiot,” he repeated. “Look, the problem is this: She is a woman, and she doesn’t want to get married to a random man she doesn’t know or like. But since she slept with you – don’t look at me like that, I’m not stupid, Dar! – you have to assume she kind of does like you. And you…” He grinned at Darren, who felt like blushing all of a sudden. “Well, you’ve been in love with her since she busted your kneecap the first week by accident.” 

“Am I really that pathetic?” Ben laughed at his pleading words, slapping his friend on the shoulder. 

“Not pathetic, Dar. Just a man in love. And possibly in over his head, as well. Just do make sure she’s not – “  
Ben’s words tapered off as he gaped at the opening door. There was Vee, arms linked with a man he had never seen before, her eyes glittering and expression intent. She wouldn’t – she hadn’t… No. She… Before Darren even knew what he was doing, he stalked over the street. Vee’s eyes widened when she saw him, and widened more at his dark expression. Good. How dare she just sell herself off after all that she’d said to him? Made him… Darren growled. 

 

“Sir Dar- ” Vee started, taking a step back. “Uhm, are you alright?” He ignored Vee, instead focusing on the stranger. It was another alpha, tall, broad-shouldered and with dirty blonde hair. 

“She’s mine,” he hissed. The man lifted an eyebrow. 

“Veeeee?” he asked, stretching the syllable. Darren reared back, preparing to punch the arrogant smirk right off of the man’s face. 

“Listen, Darren, that’s not – ” Darren punched the other alpha. Or that had been the plan, anyway, because Vee slipped in front of him, raised her arm and blocked the straight hit with her forearm. In one,   
fluid motion she stepped underneath his defence and her fist connected with his solar plexus. Darren stumbled back, gasping and stunned. 

“Darren! Stop!” Ben’s voice barely registered. How dare Vee defend another man? Another alpha? She was fucking his. She would not – he couldn’t – the thought of Vee in this man’s arms coloured Darren’s vision an angry red. He charged again, and with some satisfaction he registered fear in the alpha’s eyes. 

“You fucking bastard,” Vee snarled, sidestepping the attack, pushing the alpha behind her once more. Why was she protecting him? Why? Didn’t she like him? Why would she sell herself to some bastard who hardly deserved her? 

“Vee, what’s going on?” A woman, Vee’s mother, hurried over to the scene he was making. But he wouldn’t let her go without a fight. 

“How much,” he snarled. The other man blinked. Darren growled. 

“Soline’s smelly armpits, Darren! Stop! That’s not - !” 

“Shut up, Ben,” he snapped. 

“Darren,” Vee said, her teeth clenched as she rocked back from a particularly vicious punch aimed at the other man’s eyes. “Will you stop? Just. For a damned. Second!” She punctuated her words with hits of her own, driving him back. Darren didn’t want to hurt her. Just the bastard who – “That’s Tom! He’s a friend of mine.” Darren blinked, panting. 

“You came to training smelling of him before,” he said, softly, dangerously. Vee rolled her eyes, relaxing her stance. 

“Duh,” she said, shaking her head. “He’s my mother’s fiancé.” Darren blinked. The man must have been at least twenty years younger than Miss Haag. “And I was going to ask his permission to marry.” 

“You want to marry?” Both Darren and Ben gaped at her. Tom, her mother’s fiancé, Darren thought with some horror, shook his head. 

“I’d never thought my baby girl would do that at some point. I’d lost all hope.” He sounded… gentle, for want of a better word. Darren felt blood rush into his cheeks, and he bowed formally.

“I’m so sorry, sir,” he said. “I… overreacted.” 

“Did you ever,” Vee snorted. “Idiot.” 

“Now, am I right in assuming you wanted to marry this hothead here?” Darren’s head shot up so fast he felt almost dizzy. Vee shrugged. 

“He’s nice, and he did just demonstrate a willingness to kill you for trying to walk away with me.” Tom shook his head fondly. 

“You are one weird girl, Veevee,” he said, hugging Vee to his side one-armed. 

“Well. You knew that before, didn’t you?” 

“But shouldn’t it be him who asks for your hand?” Tom asked. “I feel like we’re doing this all backwards.” Vee laughed at that. 

“I like him, Tom. He’s not looking down at me for who I am, and I can break his kneecaps if he tries something funny. Besides, I’ve known Darren for two years now. I think he’s not that bad a choice. Plus,   
he is kind of rich.” 

“You sound like you’re selling a horse,” Ben said, grinning. “So, in the interest of full disclosure, and since we’re selling Darren anyway, I have to say he’s an honourable man. He tried to defend Vee’s   
honour and made sure the men don’t gossip. Oh, and he can cook.” 

“I’m still here, you know,” Darren grumbled. The evening was taking on a more and more surreal note. First, he had attacked Vee’s guardian, and now, he was talking about getting married? Soline’s mercy. 

“But you’re madly in love with Vee anyway, so it doesn’t matter.” 

“Ben!” Darren exclaimed, scandalized. Vee lifted an eyebrow. 

“There you go, Tom. He likes me back. What else could you possibly want?” 

“He knows who you… well, who you are?” Vee sighed. 

“Yes. We’ve had sex. Would you like details on that as well?” Tom made a sound between a laugh and a choke. 

“Soline’s dark crack, no.” 

“So, uhm, you know… can I marry him?” Tom smiled. 

“Would it matter if I said no?” Vee grinned, dancing over to Darren’s side. 

“Not really.” Darren felt the urge to ask if it would matter if he decided he didn’t want to, but had the feeling that Vee’s answer would probably remain the same: 

“Not really, no.” She tilted her head, letting it rest against Darren’s shoulder. “But it would make me sad.” Tom shook his head. 

“Right. I’ll need to talk to Margaret, of course, but I think, if you’re both agreed on this, I can’t very well say no. Uhm, be happy?” Vee looked up at Darren, who suddenly felt rather in over his head. This woman, this omega, had just stood up to her alpha caretaker and decided to marry him, without ever asking his opinion or anyone else’s. What had he gotten himself into? 

“I will, don’t worry.” 

~

“DARREN!” Darren jumped up from the sofa and started to pace through the living room of his small home. The door to the bedroom remained firmly closed, but Vee’s death threats were making him nervous. After all, his wife had proven she could, in fact, break his bones if she put her mind to it. Ben put a hand on his shoulder. 

“Don’t worry,” he said. “Anna is the same. It’s because giving birth really hurts.” 

“Thanks,” Darren replied, sceptically. “But Anna has never broken your bones, has she?” Ben laughed. 

“No, she hasn’t. But Vee loves you, remember?” 

“Yeah…” They listened to the threats coming from the bedroom, and Ben lifted an eyebrow. 

“You gotta hand it to her, though. She’s really creative. Oh, that one would hurt…” Darren felt his stomach knot. Childbirth was never an easy thing, but the midwife had assured him that Vee was young and healthy and she would survive this. It was his first child – would be his first child. Soline’s hairy legs, he wasn’t ready to be a father. He barely survived being married on a day to day basis. Vee assured him she loved him anyways, but still. How was he supposed to deal with a child? An infant? 

 

“Ben, how do I be a father?” he asked, panic a cold lump in his stomach. Ben pushed him down on the sofa again. 

“You will do just fine,” he assured him just in the moment the door to the bedroom opened. A sweating, but satisfied looking young beta stuck her head out. 

“Congratulations,” she said, smiling. “You’ve got a daughter. Come on in, Sir Darren.”   
He exchanged a look with Ben, who gave him a slight push. Darren stumbled into the room. It smelled, despite the opened windows, of blood and sweat. Vee was lying on her bed, eyes closed and pale. She looked… weak, but peaceful. 

“Vee?” he asked, voice brittle. She opened her eyes to look at him. Exhaustion was drawn on her features, but still she smiled. 

“We’re fine,” she managed. “Here, look at your baby girl.” She weakly lifted a hand, and he rushed to her side to take the bundle from her. The child was tiny, his hands looked gigantic carefully wrapped around the body. It blinked up sleepily, unseeing still. 

“She’s…” he began, unsure how to complete the sentence. Vee sighed. 

“Gross, isn’t she?” Darren blinked. 

“Uhm, what?” 

“It’ll get better, but newborn babies don’t look particularly cute. Her head’s all squished and blue, Darren.” 

“Uh…” 

“Come here, you idiot, so I can kiss you.” Darren obeyed, because really, what else could he do? 

“You’ll be a wonderful father,” Vee whispered against his lips, and he nodded. If Vee believed in him, well, he could do anything. 

“I love you,” he said. “And I don’t think our daughter is gross.” 

“I love you, too,” Vee answered immediately. “Also, I disagree, but I will pretend to share your opinion because I’m really tired and don’t want to argue. Let me hold her while I sleep?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Vee and Darren live happily ever after, their baby girl is a beta and will be named Samantha, and I am rather satisfied with the end. It's very... Vee... isn't it?


End file.
